Oklahoma City Mother's Search For Son Ends Tragically In Texas

An Oklahoma City mother's desperate search for her son ends in tragedy. Police said the little boy died under the care of his father near Houston, Texas.

Katrina DeBoard spent more than a year searching for her son, Dominic Wells, 2. She dropped him off to visit his dad in North Carolina in early May of 2013, and it was the last time she saw him alive. 

"Had I told them no to my son, he would still be here with me," said DeBoard to News 9 in a phone interview. "My son would still be alive. He still would be that happy laughing baby he always was."

DeBoard said she hasn't been getting much sleep in the past year. The feeling of not knowing where her son was, or how he was doing, was eating her alive. 

She reached out to police for help, but had no luck.

"They had told me that it sounds just like a custody battle with no quote on quote true custody order from any court," said DeBoard.

DeBoard said it was a mother's worst nightmare, when the detective called last week. The detective told her, Dominic was in the hospital on life support. She drove from Oklahoma City to Houston, but it was too late.

"The only color that was on my son, was the dry blood, the bruises, the scratches, and the pin prints," she sobbed.

Police said the boy's father, Derek Wells, 25, was staying at a friend's house in League City, right outside of Houston. The father and son were living together in an unfinished garage.

Officers received a call, for an unresponsive child at a home in the 2100 block of Redwood Drive on Wednesday. Detectives said they have reason to believe Wells was abusing Dominic.

Police arrested and booked Wells into the Galveston County Jail for injury to a child. Because Dominic is now dead, Wells could be facing murder charges for the death of his son.

"I really hope that somebody shows him, how much my son suffers, and what it's like to be beaten senseless, be defenseless, and helpless," said DeBoard.

DeBoard said she's in the process, of bringing her son's body back to Oklahoma City, so he can be cremated.

Wells is sitting in jail on a $100,000 bond. The district attorney in Texas will have to decide, if murder charges will be filed.